Subject Liaisons in Academic Libraries:
An Open Access Data Set from 2015
Neil Nero and Anne Langley
abstract: The work of subject liaison librarians in academic libraries has morphed to include a variety
of roles that reach beyond the traditional. This study captures responses of 1,808 participants
from land-grant, Oberlin Group, and Association of Research Libraries (ARL) institutions to a
questionnaire about subject liaison librarians. The questionnaire contains eight demographic
questions, fve questions about liaison responsibilities, seven outreach and instruction questions,
three traditional reference questions, two scholarly communications questions, three collection
development questions, and an open-ended question. This is the largest data set compiled to date
on academic subject liaison librarians. The data set has been made available on an open access
basis in hopes that use of the data will facilitate cross-study comparisons.
The Data Set
T
he data set created for this study, “Subject Liaisons in Academic Libraries: An
Open Access Data Set from 2015,” is comprised of data collected about subject
liaison librarians and the work they are doing in academic libraries. The data
set has been made available on an open access basis. It contains information from 1,808
participants, specifcally librarians from land-grant institutions, mostly large public
universities; the Oberlin Group, mostly small liberal arts colleges; and Association of
Research Libraries (ARL) libraries.
The participating librarians answered eight demographic questions, fve questions
about subject liaison responsibilities, seven outreach and instruction questions, three
traditional reference questions, two scholarly communications questions, and three
collection development questions. There was also an open-ended question that asked
for comments of any kind. Two of the questions were standardized: Q9 “Where did you
get your library/information science degree?” and Q13, type of library. Information
deemed to have identifying characteristics has been redacted and labeled “REDACTED
- Identifying Information.”
portal: Libraries and the Academy, Vol. 17, No. 1 (2017), pp. 5–15.
Copyright © 2017 by Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD 21218.
FEATURE: NOTABLE AND NEWSWORTHY
This mss. is peer reviewed, copy edited, and accepted for publication, portal 17.1.